Ecological Requirenments, Essential oil Composition, Total Phenol and Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Activity and Ethnobotanical Survey of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. in North Khorasan Razavi Province

In several field observation of this research ,the main ecological requirenments and ethnopharmacological data about  the traditional uses  of Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. were recorded. The aerial parts of plant were collected in blooming from Bovanloo mountain in September 2013 (1728 m ) in North Khorasan Razavi.  Essential oil was obtained by hydro-distillation and  analyzed by GC-MS. Methanolic extracts were obtained by maceration. Phytochemical assay: TP (total phenol) and TF (total flavonoid ) were determined by spectrophotometrically, antioxidant capacity were obtained by TAC, RP and DPPH methods in compare of BHT and BHA antioxidant standard. According to results, Ziziphora clinopodioides  Lam. ( Kakuti  ) is the most edible aromatic montainous herb, which wild growing in cold-dry climate (1500-1800 m) in North Khorasan Razavi province, with annual raining 288 mm, annual temperature 13.7 °C  in sandy loam soil, with pH= 7.8 and Ec=0.8  dc.  The pulegone (46.2%), menthol (10.7%), carvacrol (9.5%), 1,8-cineole (8.37%) , p-menthan-3-one (7.5) and piperitenone (5.8%) were the main constituents of plant essential oil. The amount of total phenolic (98.13±5.9  mg GAE 100 g-1 DW)  and flavonoid contents (220.9±18.65 mg QE 100g-1 DW), respectively. The highest levels of IC50 (26.5 ± 1.4 μg/ml  ) were detected in DPPH method against free radical scavenging in density of 5 μg/ml  (P< 0.05) to compare of standard antioxidant (BHT and BHA). The essential oil and methanol extract  of Ziziphora clinopodioides with high quality content and antioxidant activity can be confirmed the traditional uses of Z.clinopodioides in this provice as antiinflammation, antispasm, expectorant and antiinfection to treat of common cold, flu, fever, diarrhoae, gasterointestinal disorder and stomatchache in tea, yaghurt and doogh.